MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2015
BUSINESS
KAMCO announces financial results for H1 of 2015 KUWAIT: KAMCO Investment Company K.S.C. (Public), a leading investment company with one of the largest AUMs in the region and a winner of the prestigious Kuwait Asset Manager of the Year Award 2015, announced its financial results for the first half ended June 30, 2015. The company recorded a net profit of KD 145,000 with earnings-pershare (EPS) of 0.61 fils. Operationally, KAMCO maintained Assets Under Management at KD 3.48 billion ($11.5 billion). KAMCO’s fee income for the first half of the year stood at KD 2.41 million, a slight growth of 2% over KD 2.37 million earned in first half of
2014. The company’s investment funds saw positive activity. The KAMCO Real Estate Yield Fund (KREYF), launched in 2014, successfully distributed cash dividends of 1.7% in the first quarter (covering the period from the Fund’s initial establishment until the end of the first quarter) and 1% in the second quarter of 2015. KREYF invests in attractive and yielding real estate opportunities in targeted markets (GCC countries and/or other MENA countries),utilizing a balanced and well thought of investment policy. During the first half of the year, KAMCO launched the KAMCO MENA Plus Fixed Income
Fund, which aims to achieve relatively high returns as compared to returns of the bank short-term interest by primarily investing in a portfolio of MENA Conventional Bonds and Islamic Sukuks diversified by country, sector, issuer and credit structure. Moreover, KAMCO’s managed equity funds performed better than their respective benchmarks. On this occasion, Faisal M.Sarkhou, CEO of KAMCO, said,”Equity markets, international as well as regional, remained volatile in the first half of 2015 due to Greece’s debtcrisisand the troubled geo-political environment in the region.”
Sarkhou added, “Uncertainty in the regional equity markets continues to prevail due to multiple factors that affected markets across the region. These include the continued weakness in oil price, the possibility of a hard landing in China, USD strength and the frail economic situation in Europe.” Based on the current trend toward strengthening the investment funds, Sarkhou emphasized KAMCO’s dedication and commitment toprovide the best client-centric services, alongside launching new products that target safe and cash-generating investments with attractive yields. He said, “We are cautious-
ly optimistic that recent developments will, in the medium-tolongterm, offer new opportunities to businesses and investors alike and we are gearing ourselves by focusing on our core operations, offering better and efficient client-centric services and new products geared towards safety, liquidity and returns.” Sarkhou added, “The continual increase in our AUM and client base, combined with our proven track record of providing our clients with financial solutions, allow us to continue strategically positioning ourselves as one of the leading investment companies in Kuwait and the region.”
Faisal M.Sarkhou
Push for higher minimum wage ignites worry about enforcement NEW YORK: As a campaign to raise the minimum wage as high as $15 has achieved victories in such places as Seattle, Los Angeles and New York, it has bumped up against a harsh reality: Plenty of scofflaw businesses don’t pay the legal minimum now and probably won’t pay the new, higher wages either. Some economists, labor activists and regulators predic t that without stronger enforcement, the number of workers getting cheated out of a legal wage is bound to increase in places where wages rise. Estimates on the size of the problem vary, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that in 2014, roughly 1.7 million U.S. workers - two thirds of whom were women - were illegally paid less than the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour. Other studies put the number higher. A report by the Department of Labor in December estimated that in New York and California alone, there are 560,000 violations of the law ever y week, representing $33 million in lost income. Those figures represent workers like Celina Alvarez, who came to the US from Michoacan, Mexico, four years ago and took a series of poorly paying jobs as a cook after settling in New York City. At the first two restaurants, Alvarez worked 12 hours per day, six days a week for a flat weekly wage of $350. That comes out to about $4.86 per hour. There were no tips and no overtime pay. Some weeks, Alvarez said, she and other women in the restaurant didn’t get paid at all. Managers didn’t care if they quit. They’d just hire someone else. “We were dispensable to them,” she said. The US Labor Department investigates those types of violations and is already doing a brisk business in enforcement cases. During the last federal fiscal year, it said it recovered $270 million in back wages for 270,000 workers. Challenge But the agency’s roughly 1,000 investigators, who police 7.3 million businesses employing 135 million workers, don’t enforce state and local wage laws, for the most part. That means that cities and states that hike their minimum wage above the federal rate of $7.25 are on their own. That’s causing some concern that, without a robust enforcement mechanism, many workers could wind up being left behind. “A lot of states are facing that chal-
lenge now,” said David Weil, administrator of the U.S. Labor Depar tment’s Wage and Hour Division. “It is ver y impor tant to pass those minimum wage increases ... Then, how do we make sure workers really receive them?” Twenty nine states now have a minimum wage higher than the federal rate, but anti-poverty activists have been campaigning hard for municipal lawmakers to bypass both Congress and their state legislatures and set wages much higher. Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco and its Bay Area brethren, Oakland and Berkeley, have all begun phasing in a minimum wage that will hit $15 per hour within the next few years. Labor groups in California are trying to get a measure on the ballot increasing the rate to $15 statewide. A regulatory board in New York took the unorthodox step last month of hiking the minimum to $15 for fast food workers. Other, less expensive cities have been shooting slightly lower. Chicago and Kansas City, Missouri, are both raising the rate to $13. Albuquerque, New Mexico, and, Portland, Maine, are both raising rates to just under $11. Most of these raises are being phased in gradually over several years. Thin profit margins Those measures have been strenuously opposed by many corporations and entrepreneurs, who say that many businesses with thin profit margins will be forced out of business or fire workers to stay afloat. Tia Koonse, a researcher at the UCLA Labor Center, said there is no question that some employers doing things legally now might be tempted to start breaking rules. “If there is not a credible threat of a compliance check , then what hap pens?” she said. Some municipalities that have raised wages have talked about following the example of San Francisco, which created its own labor standards enforcement division. The head of that unit, Donna Levitt, said the number of complaints about wage violations did not go up when the minimum wage stepped up to $12.25 in May. But she said that doesn’t necessarily reflect what is really happening. “There are a lot of reasons that people are fearful of coming forward and asserting their rights, even if they know the minimum wage has increased,” Levitt said. —AP
BENTONVILLE: In this June 4, 2015 photo, a customer, center, checks out at a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market store in Bentonville, Ark. The Commerce Department releases retail sales data for June. — AP
Most Gulf markets fall on weak oil Egypt pulls back after strong week Properties, the most traded stock, rose 0.8 percent after announcing last week that its secondquarter profit had more than tripled. Other property-related stocks did not perform so well. Emaar Properties, the emirate’s biggest listed developer, and builder Arabtec fell 1.3 percent each. Meanwhile, Gulf Navigation jumped 2.9 percent after announcing a 172 percent increase in profit for the first half of 2015 and a settlement deal with one of its major creditors, Nordic American Tankers, under which it will issue mandatory convertible bonds worth 37.34 million dirhams ($10.2 million). Abu Dhabi’s bourse fell 0.6 percent as most blue chips declined, including lenders First Gulf Bank, down 1.0 percent, and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, which fell 1.4 percent. Qatar shed 1.4 percent and heavyweight Industries Qatar, whose petrochemicals business has suffered from the plunge in oil prices, dropped 2.5 percent. Oman’s index slipped 0.4 percent. Renaissance Services tumbled 5.6 percent after it said it would continue repurchasing its mandatory convertible bonds. The company said it had bought back the first tranche for a price of 0.151 rials ($0.39), a premium to the bond’s last quoted price of 0.145
DUBAI: Most Gulf stock markets extended losses yesterday on weaker oil prices, but Saudi Arabia edged up following a sharp fall last week. The main Saudi index fell as much as 1.1 percent during the day, hitting a fresh four-month low of 8,561 points, but then turned around and rose 0.5 percent. It tumbled 4.9 percent last week. Foodmaker Savola Group was the main gainer, jumping 2.6 percent to 68.00 riyals as it rebounded from technical support at 65.50 riyals, the low it hit in June and March. Another food firm, Almarai, in which Savola has a 36.5 percent stake, rose 1.6 percent. Retailer Jarir Marketing climbed 1.9 percent. Financial news website Argaam.com, citing central bank data, said on Sunday that point-ofsale (POS) transactions in Saudi Arabia, which include payments through ATMs, debit and credit cards, rose 12.3 percent year-on-year during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ended in mid-July. Cash withdrawals from ATMs rose 16 percent. The figures point to a potentially strong third quarter for consumer-focused businesses. UAE, EGYPT Dubai’s index fell 0.6 percent, with most stocks in the red, although developer DAMAC
rials. Egypt’s benchmark fell 1.1 percent, with most stocks in the red. The index gained 3.8 percent last week in the run-up to the launch of the New Suez Canal, which the government hopes will boost state revenues by allowing heavier traffic along the shortest marine route between Europe and Asia. YESTERDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS SAUDI ARABIA The index edged up 0.5 percent to 8,699 points. DUBAI The index fell 0.6 percent to 4,098 points. ABU DHABI The index edged down 0.6 percent to 4,809 points. QATAR The index lost 1.4 percent to 11,610 points. EGYPT The index fell 1.3 percent to 8,011 points. KUWAIT The index edged up 0.4 percent to 6,271 points. OMAN The index slipped 0.4 percent to 6,408 points. BAHRAIN The index was flat at 1,333 points. —Reuters
EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht
Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham
ASIAN COUNTRIES 2.446 4.771 2.983 2.270 3.008 220.500 39.199 3.905 6.640 8.653 GCC COUNTRIES 81.070 83.510 789.630 807.360 82.770
ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 40.825 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 38.872 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.419 Tunisian Dinar 155.500 Jordanian Dinar 4.292 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.039 Syrian Lira 2.166 Morocco Dirham 31.325 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 303.850 Euro 336.060 Sterling Pound 473.400 Canadian dollar 232.300 Turkish lira 109.340 Swiss Franc 311.640 Australian dollar 227.740 US Dollar Buying 303.400
GOLD 20 gram 10 gram 5 gram
223.090 114.240 57.800
UAE Exchange Centre WLL CURRENCIES Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal
TELEX TRANSFER PER 1000 202.99 234.06 315.52 333.66 304.30 475.53 2.48 3.907 4.765 2.275 2.980 2.987 82.72 807.69 38.75 432.29 789.20 83.82 81.09
Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals
Selling Rate 303.650 235.320 472.635 338.275 292.945 806.720 83.050 91.060
Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit Chinese Yuan Renminbi Thai Bhat Turkish Lira
81.780 428.295 38.706 2.271 4.742 2.982 3.898 6.665 578.925 3.455 2.605 3.965 80.515 49.285 9.685 110.665
Bahrain Exchange Company CURRENCY
BUY
SELL Europe
Belgian Franc British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Romanian Leu Slovakia Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Turkish Lira
0.007928 0.467672 0.004322 0.040607 0.328768 0.032781 0.087162 0.009074 0.030756 0.302738 0.109778
0.008928 0.476672 0.016322 0.045607 0.336768 0.037981 0.087162 0.019074 0.035756 0.312938 0.116778
Australasia Australian Dollar 0.217453 0.228953 New Zealand Dollar 0.195201 0.204401
Canadian Dollar US Dollars
America 0.226289 0.234789 0.299750 0.304250
US Dollars Mint
0.300250
Bangladesh Taka Chinese Yuan Hong Kong Dollar Indian upee Indonesian Rupiah Japanese Yen Kenyan Shilling Korean Won Malaysian Ringgit Nepalese Rupee Pakistan Rupee Philippine Peso Sierra Leone Singapore Dollar South African Rand Sri Lankan Rupee Taiwan Thai Baht
0.003562 0.047553 0.037104 0.004641 0.000019 0.002365 0.003158 0.000251 0.075567 0.003047 0.002817 0.006636 0.000067 0.216515 0.018079 0.001985 0.009711 0.008437
Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Iranian Riyal Iraqi Dinar Jordanian Dinar Kuwaiti Dinar Lebanese Pound Moroccan Dirhams Nigerian Naira Omani Riyal Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal Syrian Pound Tunisian Dinar Turkish Lira UAE Dirhams Yemeni Riyal
0.799505 0.039182 0.000084 0.000199 0.424564 1.000000 0.000152 0.019911 0.001255 0.783210 0.082749 0.080390 0.001288 0.150661 0.109778 0.081746 0.001373
0.304250 Asia 0.004162 0.051053 0.039854 0.005031 0.000025 0.002545 0.003158 0.000266 0.081567 0.003217 0.003097 0.006916 0.000073 0.22515 0.026579 0.002565 0.009891 0.008987 Arab 0.807505 0.042012 0.000085 0.000259 0.432064 1.000000 0.000252 0.043911 0.001890 0.788890 0.083962 0.081090 0.001508 0.158661 0.116778 0.082895 0.001453
